Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit issued its decision in Pilgrim’s Pride and held that a loss on abandoned securities is ordinary. The Fifth Circuit rejected the IRS’s argument that Section 1234A and Section 165(g) apply to treat...more

It is no secret that when a public company announces a merger, lawsuits follow. There is nothing inherently wrong with this phenomenon. If the merger price is woefully unjustifiable or if shareholders are not given adequate...more

A federal district court recently ruled that an employer who failed to timely withhold Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA taxes) on nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) in accordance with the special timing rule...more

On October 30th, the U.S. Tax Court ruled that a key executive of a technology company acquired by Google for $93 million was required to report a large portion of his merger consideration as ordinary compensation income....more

The Commission instituted administrative proceedings centered on an offering fraud orchestrated by a former adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School who taught, and previously specialized in, turning around troubled...more

Avoiding Litigation in the Host State’s Courts in Investor-State Disputes After the Urbaser and Teinver Decisions. Previously, foreign investors whose investments have been damaged by governmental measures of the host...more

Even when the claims in a lawsuit arguably fall within the coverage terms of the defendant’s liability insurance policy, the circumstances might suggest facts that would establish a defense to coverage. In that case, the...more

The tax treatment of amounts paid out of failed Ponzi schemes is once again in the news. In Roszko v. The Queen (2014 TCC 59), the Tax Court of Canada allowed the taxpayer’s appeal and held that amounts paid out of a...more

On February 11, 2014, the United States Tax Court issued a memorandum opinion (i) determining the proper method for valuing a holding company (i.e., an S or C corporation holding marketable securities or appreciated...more

UBS Settles RMBS Claims Brought by the FHFA -
On September 4, Judge Mariana Pfaelzer of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered an order dismissing with prejudice the Federal Housing...more

Welcome to the latest Massachusetts Quarterly Update from Reed Smith. This update for the 2nd Quarter of 2013 includes coverage of a number of corporate excise tax developments, in particular: (i) pending apportionment...more

Congress enacted Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code in 2004. Given the statute’s complexity, the expense associated with compliance and its iron-fisted results, I’ve been amazed that there hasn’t been a greater clamor...more

May 22 (Bloomberg) -- AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc. and Ahern Rentals Inc. are prime examples of the frothy market where junk-bond investors are fearless in the face of risk, as Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia and Bloomberg News...more

Decisions regarding executive compensation fall squarely within the discretion of a public company’s board of directors. Recently, however, plaintiffs’ firms have been trying to invade the board’s purview by bringing...more

On January 8, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Gabelli v. S.E.C., 133 S. Ct. 97 (2012) on the question: By when must the government initiate an action to enforce a civil fine, penalty, or...more